PLUMSTEAD: Warriors hope win gets them rolling

Baseball wins CJ I opener

By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
   The New Egypt baseball team didn’t have the sort of regular season it expected, but it can put that all behind it with a run in the state tournament.
   The Warriors got off to a good start with an 11-2 win over ninth-seeded South Amboy on Monday in the first round of the Central Jersey Group I state tournament. Eighth-seeded New Egypt plays at top-seeded Florence on Friday.
   ”For what we’ve gone through with the injuries and not having the season we hoped for, one game can make up for a lot of lost time,” said New Egypt head coach Rich Carroll after his team improved to 11-10. “It’s a big deal. Once you get in the playoffs and get rolling, anything can happen.”
   The Warriors saw that last year as they advanced all the way to the sectional final as the No. 4 seed.
   ”Most of the kids are back,” Carroll said. “They started to talk about this — what it was like to get on that roll and experience that. I think that will only benefit us. A lot of the kids were on that team.”
   Playoff experience was put to the test early as New Egypt fell behind, 1-0, in the top of the first inning. Like champions, though, the Warriors responded in a big way in their half of the inning. After tying it, Rigo Morfin gave New Egypt some breathing room with a three-run home run.
   ”We went down 1-0, then we got some great at bats and then Rigo Morfin hit a three-run home run and that got us going,” Carroll said. “We never trailed after that.”
   Mike DeAnni was 3-for-3 at the plate and pitched a complete game in which he struck out nine while scattering nine hits and walking just one. Morfini also had three hits. Taylor Steen had two hits, scored three runs and drove in four runs. Kevin Smith and Kurt Frimel each had two hits apiece.
   ”We played as complete a game as we played all year,” Carroll said. “We got good pitching from Mike DeAnni. He pitched as well as he could. We took a good approach at the plate and had 14 hits. We swung the bats real well. We played well defensively too.”
   It’s the sort of performance that Carroll would like to bottle and bring out again Friday and through the rest of the state tournament.
   ”We’ve been so inconsistent all year,” Carroll said. “Hopefully now this keeps going.”
   The inconsistencies with the Warriors aren’t from a lack of focus or effort. New Egypt just hasn’t been able to put out the same players it used in last year’s 18-win season.
   ”We’ve played some really good teams,” Carroll said, “but it’s injuries that have killed us all year. Our top three pitchers got hurt. We’ve started to get healthy and get some guys back and guys performing at the level they could.
   ”We had such a big season last year, and to have all these injuries was tough. A lot of young kids stepped up. We started two freshmen today in the state game. We have a couple sophomores. The seniors held it together. It’s all hands on deck. They battle.”
   DeAnni is among the players who have been hurt this year, though he didn’t miss any starts. He’s become the Warriors ace out of necessity.
   ”He spent a couple days in the hospital with a bad infection, but he didn’t get hurt,” Carroll said. “He would have been our No. 4 pitcher and he’s had to step up into a role that we didn’t envision for him. But he’s stepped up. He’s done a good job all year.”
   New Egypt has proven to be resilient. They didn’t exactly come into the state tournament riding any good momentum. They lost three straight after a 12-1 win over Trenton Catholic, including a 14-4 defeat at the hands of Friday’s opponent, Florence.
   ”We’ve been scoring runs throughout the year,” Carroll said. “Rancocas and Florence, we had some opportunities, but didn’t come up with some hits. Rancocas was 10-1, but it was closer than that.”
   Even the loss to Florence wasn’t as bad as it looks in the final. New Egypt will be looking to avenge two regular-season losses to Florence in the second round of the state tournament.
   ”The first game we lost, 5-4, early in the year,” Carroll said. “We lost 14-4 this last time, but it was 4-2 in the sixth and things got away from us. What’s going to help us is we know what to expect. They have a good team and they can hit the ball. Jake DeWitt will be pitching. I think we need to be more aggressive than in the past offensively and seize the moment. It’s not like we’re going into a game where we don’t know what to expect.”
   The Warriors broke out their offense against South Amboy early with nine runs through the first two innings. They hope to stay hot and use an aggressive approach.
   ”We’ve been taking a lot of good pitches,” Carroll said. “We went up with a plan (Monday), looking for a specific pitch that we can hit. We waited for a fastball we could hit. He threw a lot of curves. We waited and when he threw a fast ball, we hit it.
   ”We have to do that Friday. Jake DeWitt is an outstanding pitcher. When he gets ahead of you, he’s in control.”
   The Warriors are hoping with a couple more days, they will be a little healthier and a little better prepared for an upset bid that could kick off another long state tournament run.
   ”All our infielders, catcher and three pitchers were hurt at some time,” Carroll said. “Some of them have come back healthy. We’re starting to get healthy. I wish we had a couple more weeks, but it’s a good time to get healthy.”